Straightening apparatus



July 31, 1951 G. M- COLBURN 2,562,447

STRAIGHTENING APPARATUS Filed-Sept. 17, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 650955 M. @4591; v I 15v K I 4/ H IS ATTORNEY.

July 31, 1951 G. M. COLBURN STRAIGHTENING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 17, 1947 INVENTOR: 6720965 M (04 BUB/v,

BY: 1 a

H|5 ATTORNEY.

y 31, 1951 G. M. COLBURN STRAIGHTENING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 17, 1947 INVEEN TOR2 750665 M; COLBUE/V,

H is ATTORNEY.

Patented July 31, 1951 STRAIGHTENIN G APPARATUS George M. Colburn, Greensburg, Pa.,assignr to- United States Steel Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application September 17, 1947, Serial No. 774,533

11 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for straightening structural members, particularly heavy steel rails.

Steel rails become distorted during their manufacture, largely through cooling, and must be straightened before use.

rail manufacture, being performed after normalizing and slow cooling of the rail.

Prior practice has been to straighten heavy rails in gag presses in which the rail'is fixedly supported from beneath at two spaced points and engaged from above by a relatively large, vertically movable gag. To speed the operation, the practice has been to subject the rail to a minimum number of blows, which necessarily are heavy. This practice not only may produce wavy rails, but also subject rails to rather severe cold working.

It is known that rails often'have minute internal flaws which may progressively develop into transverse fissures and cause failure of the rail. The exact cause of these flaws has never been determined, but one possible cause is the cold work imparted to the rail during straightening.

An object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus for straightening elongated structural members, particularly heavy steel rails, wherein the rail or other member moves continuously through the apparatus and is straightened by a large number of relatively light blows which do not impose severe cold working.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved gag type straighteners in which the gags may be prearranged automatically for engaging structural members at bends where straightening is needed, and thereafter are returned automatically to a neutral position.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in combination with a gag type straightener, wherein structural members are straightened by a relatively large number of light blows, improved mechanism for timing the blows to correspond with the bends observed in the member.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided improved details of structure, a preferred form of which is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of straightening apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention including a straightener and preferred forms of feeding and timing mechanisms;

The straightening operation commonly is one of the final steps in six in number, are carried around the outside Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the straightener;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the straightener taken substantially on line III--III of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of'a preferred form 'of timing mechanism for positioning the gags of the straightener.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

The straightening apparatus of the present invention includes a straightener It, a cooperating feed mechanism l I, and a timing mechanism [2. These mechanism are hereinafter described in that order.

As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, straightener l0 comprises a fixed base l3 and an upstanding transverse yoke I4 spanning said base. Said yoke includes vertical arms 15 and I6 fixed to the base and a horizontal beam I! connecting said arms and spaced above the base. The base and the yoke beam provide vertically aligned Rotation of the drum may be in either direction depending on the direction of feeding.

Feed mechanism l l carries elongated structural members S, herein illustrated as steel rails, through the straightener between arm l5 of the yoke and drum [8. In the arrangement illustrated, feeding is from right to left as viewed in Figure 1 and rotation of drum [8 in clockwise, although it is obvious that these directions of movement are matters of choice to be determined by convenience. The rail is engaged at each side of yoke arm 15 by spaced vertical rollers 20' and 2| suitably supported from the yoke arms, Figures 1 and 2. Between rollers 20 and 2i a section of the rail may be engaged by gags hereinafter described, said rollers acting as abutments between which straightening may take gagement with the drive connected with motor l9. Body section 23 has a central spider 28 that furnishes a bearing for the drum. Preferably the drum is additionally supported on conical rollers. 21 that engage the under face of bottom plate 22.

A plurality of gags 28, here shown as thirtyspacing of gags 28. .face a ratchet 31 having a tooth corresponding straightener 3. of the drum. The exact number of gags is not critical, although I prefer to employ a number suificiently large that gags are spaced at close uniform intervals around the drum circumference. The gags are slidably mounted in vertical guideways 2.9 in the outer face of drum body 23, and are of approximately half the height of said drum body.

As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, the edge of top plate 24 carries a plurality of gag latches 30, one for each gag 28. Said latches each include a support 3| to which a lever 32 is pivoted. The lower arm of lever 32 carries a hook 33, which normally engages a hook 34 upstanding from the gag to hold the gag in the upper or inoperative position in'the guideway. The upper arm of each latch lever is adapted to be engaged by release mechanism hereinafter described for releasing the gag to allow it to drop to the lower or operative position.

It is seen that as long as gags are retained in the upper position, rail S travels between yoke arm l5 and drum 18 without being touched by gags. When gags are lowered, they bear against the rail, and in cooperation with rollers 20 and 2|, exert a straightening action on the rail.

Asbest shown in Figure 3, the latch release mechanism includes a wheel rotatably mounted on yoke arm l6 approximately diametrically opposite the point of contact of the gags with the rail. Wheel 35 has a plurality of external radial spokes 3E5 spaced the same linear distance as the Said wheel carries on its with each spoke 36. A push rod 38 is mounted on yoke arm [6 for reciprocable movement and .its forward end engages the teeth of ratchet 31.

Rod 38 is magnetically actuated by two-way electromagnets 39, so that each time the magnets 1 are energized the rod is retracted and then moved forward to rotate wheel 35 one notch. Such rotation of the wheel causes a spoke 36 to release one gag latch 39 to allow one gag to move to the 1 lower or operative position. Spring means are provided for returning the latches to the position where they engage hooks 34 on the gags.

A substantially circular ramp 4!! is fixed to base l3 and overlies the extending portion of bottom plate 22 beneath the gags. The ramp is continuous except for a short break adjacent the point of engagement of the gags with the rail. The high point of the ramp is beneath the latch release mechanism. When a gag is released, rotation of drum carries the gag down the ramp to the point of engagement with the rail. Following such engagement, continued rotation of the drum carries the gag up the ramp on the opposite side. When the gag reaches the top of the ramp, it is reengaged by its latch and thus the gags are automatically returned to the raised or inoperative position. The ramp also provides smooth lowering of the gags after their release.

As shown in Figure 1, feed mechanism I l comprises a plurality of feed rollers 41 and preferably three sets of pinch rolls 42, 43, and 44. Pinch rolls 42 and 43 are situated at opposite sides of Ii] to move rails through said straightener and pinch rolls 44 are positioned in advance of feed rollers 4| to deliver rails to said feed rollers. The rail is moved at a uniform linear speed equal to the linear'speed at which gags 28 are moved by. rotation of drum [8. Inasmuch as the feed rollers and pinch rollers may be of any usual construction and perform their usual function of advancing the rail, no more detailed description is deemed necessary.

An indicator is providd at 45 in advance of abutments 20 and 21, Figure 1. As rails move therepast, the operator observes bends and actuates timing mechanism l2 as each point of the rail'to be gagged passes the indicator. Said timing mechanism lowers a gag so that the bend is engaged thereby as it passes yoke arm IS in the straightener.

The details of a preferred form of timing mechanism are shown in Figure 4. The mechanism comprises a strip 46 preferably of paper. Suitable driving mechanism, not shown, is provided for advancing the strip at a uniform linear speed, preferably slower than the speed of advance of rail S, but at .a definite ratio thereto.

As each point of the rail to be gagged passes indicator 45, the operator depresses a button 41 which punches the strip as indicated at 48. A predetermined distance beyond the button there is a photoelectric cell 49 beneath the strip and a light source 50 above the strip. Said photoelectric cell is electrically connected with magnets 39, whereby the magnets are actuated each time the cell is energized. The strip, being interposed between the cell and the light source, normally prevents energization of the cell, except when a punch 48 passes therebetween.

It is desired to drop a gag 23 each time the point on the rail to be gagged is at a distance from yoke arm 15 equal to the linear distance around drum 18 between said arm and the latch release mechanism. The bends in a rail must be observed and recorded on the strip before the rails enter the straightener, as its path becomes too irregular for proper observation once it is being engaged by gags. Since the speed of rail travel is uniform, there is a fixed interval between the punching of the strip and the proper time for gag release. The speed of strip 46 and the spacing between button 41 and photoelectric .cel1'49 are adjusted so that a punch 48 in the strip reaches said cell at the proper time for release of a gag.

The operation of a straightening apparatus constructed as described, and the improved method of straightening involving its use may be summarized as follows:

A rail S to be straightened is conveyed to feed rollers 41 by pinch rolls 44 at a uniform linear speed. As points in the rail where gagging is needed pass indicator 45, the operator presses button 4'! and therebypunches strip 46 to record the bends.

After the strip has been punched to correspond with irregularities in the rail, the rail enters straightener [0, being forced therethrough by pinch rolls 42 and 43. The rail rides against vertical rollers 28 and 2| and, except where gags are lowered, passes freely past drum 18.

The timing mechanism releases latches to lower one or more gags at the proper moment in accordance with punches in the strip so that the lowered gags pass yoke arms l5 at the same time as the bend in the rail. By pressing the rail section against vertical rollers 20 and 2 I, which act as abutments, the gags straighten the rail. Continued rotation of the drum pushes the lowered gags up ramp 40, .and they are reengaged b their latches on reaching the top of the ramp.

It is seen that the individual gags are small and make no drastic bendsin the rails. By engaging the rail with a large number of small gags at pretimed intervals, the objectionsto the use of larger gags are eliminated.

I have illustrated a preferred form oftiming mechanism wherein a strip is punched in advance foreach complete rail. It is possible, how- 'ever, that timing of the gag dropping could be performed by a time switch, of which many designs are known.

I have illustrated the apparatuses employed to straighten steel rails. parent that similarly constructed apparatus may be employed for straighteningother structural members, such as I beams, H beams or channels. Therefore I do not wish to limit use of the apparatus to any particular structural members.

for straightening members comprising a power driven support rotatable on a vertical axis, a plurality of closely spaced gags mounted on said support for movement between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position, means normally retaining said gags in the inoperative position, means for individually releasing said gags'to the operative position in accordance with bends observed in a structural member, a pair of spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said support, said gags in the op erative position being situated to exert a straight ening action on a section of the member between said abutments, and ramp means for returning said gags to the inoperative position after they have acted on the members. 2. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven-drum rotatable on a vertical axis, a plurality of closely spaced gags slidably mounted around the circumference of said drum for movement between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position, releasable latchmeans normally retaining said gags in the inoperative position, and a pair of spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said drum, said gags in the operative position being situated to exert a straightening action on a section of a structural member between said abutments..

3. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven'drum rotatable on a vertical axis, a plurality of closely spaced gags slidably mounted around the circumference of said drum for movement between an upper inoperative position and a'lower-operative position, releasable latch means normally retaining said gags in the inoperative position, means for individually releasingsaid latch means and thereby lowering said gags-in accordance with bends observed in a structural member, a pair of spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said drum, said gags in the operative position being situated to exert a straightening action on a section of the member between said abutments, and ramp means for reengaging said gags with said latch means after they have acted on the member.

4. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven support rotatable on a vertical axis, a plurality of closely Nevertheless, it is ap- 'ment between' an operative lower position and an spaced gags mounted on said support for: move ment between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position, means normally retaining said gags in the inoperative position, means for individually releasing said gags to the operative position in accordance with bends observed in a structural member, a pairof spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said support, means for feeding a structural member past said abutments, said gags in the operative position exerting a straightening action on the section of the member between said abutments and in the inoperative position clearing the member, and ramp means for returning said gags to the inoperative position after they have acted on the member. 5. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven rotatable drum, a plurality of closely spaced gags supported around the circumference of said drum in guideways for movement between an operative lower position and an inoperative upper position,

releasable means normally retaining said gags in their inoperative position, means which on rotation of said drum allows pre-selected gags to move gravitationally to their operative position,

means which on rotation of said drum returns such gags to their inoperative position, and means occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said drumproviding spaced abutments for a section of a structural member, said gags which have moved into their operative position being situated to exert a straightening action on the section of the member between said abutments and those which remain in their inoperative position clearing the member.

6. Apparatus for straightening, structural members comprising a power driven rotatable support, a plurality of closely. spaced gags mounted on said support in guideways forrnoveinoperative upper position, means normally retainlng said gags in their inoperative position,

lmeansfor releasing pre-selected gags for movement gravitationally to their operative position in'accordance with bends observed in a structural member, guide means for guiding such preselected gags to their operative position and for returning them to their inoperative position on rotation of said support, and a pair of spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said support, said gags which have moved into their operative position being situated to exert a straightening action on a section of the member between said abutments and those which remain in their inoperative position clearing the member.

7. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven rotatable support, a plurality of closely spaced gags mounted on said support for movement between operative andinoperative positions, means normally retaining said gags in their inoperative position,

means for individually releasing gags for movethe member between said abutments and those which remain in their inoperative position clearing the member.

8. Apparatus for straightening structural members-comprising a power driven rotatable support, a plurality of closely spaced gags mounted on said support for movement between operative and inoperativ positions, means normally retaining said gags in their inoperative position, means for rotatable support to carry this gag opposite the space between said abutments at the same time the bend is opposite this space, said gags which have moved into their operative position exerting a straightening action on the section of the member between said abutments and those which remain in the inoperative position clearing the member, and means for returning said gags from their operative to their inoperative positions on rotation of said support.

9. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven drum rotatable on a vertical axis, a plurality of closely spaced gags mounted on said drum for vertical movement between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position, latch mean normally retaining said gags in their inoperative position, means for individually releasing said gags to allow them to move gravitationally to their operative position, a pair of spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said drum, means for feeding structural members past said abutments, an indicator ahead of said abutments, a time delay mechanism adapted to be actuated as bends pass said indicator and record the bends ahead of their passage of said abutments, means interconnecting said time delay mechanism and said gag releasing means so that the latter releases a gag to its operative position in time for said drum to carry this gag opposite the space between said abutments at the same time the bend is opposite this space, said gags which have moved into their operative position exerting a straightening action on the section of the member between said abutments and those which remain in their inoperative position clearing the member, and ramp means for returning said gags to their inoperative position after they have acted on the member.

10. Apparatus for straightening structural member comprising a power driven rotatable support, a plurality of gags mounted on said support for movement between operative and inoperve positions, means normally retaining said gags in their inoperative position, means for individually releasing said gags for movement gravitationally to their operative position, a pair of spaced abutments occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said support, means for feeding a structural member past said abutments, a time delay mechanism including a movable strip adapted to be punched for recording in advance the bends in a member and photoelectric means responsive to punches in said strip for automatically operating said gag releasing means, and ramp means for guidin gags which have been released into their operative position and thence returning them to their inoperative position on rotation of said support, said releasing mechanism releasing a gag in time for it to be in its operative position as both this gag and the bend pass said abutments, said gags in their operative position exerting a straightening action on the section of the member between said abutments and in their inoperative position clearing the member.

11. Apparatus for straightening structural members comprising a power driven rotatable support, a plurality of gag mounted on said support in guideways for movement between an operative lower position and an inoperative upper position, means occupying stationary positions outside of and adjacent said support providing spaced abutments for a section of a structural member, said gags in their operative position being situated to exert a straightening action on the section of the member between said abutments and in their inoperative position clearing the member, means for releasing gags so that they can move gravitationally from their inoperative to their operative positions, means for supporting and guiding a structural member past said abutments, a time dela mechanism including means to record bends in the structural member in advance of said abutments, means operatin in accordance with the record made by said bend recording means for operating said gag releasing means, and means for subsequently returning gags thus released to their inoperative positions on further rotation of said support.

GEORGE M. COLBURN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,049,083 Harner et al Dec. 31, 1912 1,221,384 Sleeper Apr. 3, 1917 1,239,533 Sponsel Sept. 11, 1917 1,578,737 Johnson Mar. 30, 1926 1,594,439 Wilhams Aug. 3, 1926 1,632,255 Wagner June 14, 1927 2,050,315 Gulliksen -1 Aug. 11, 1936 2,222,842 Humphrey Nov. 26, 1940 2,319,206 McKinney et a1. Nov. 20, 1945 

